1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for assembling one or more wheels on a miniature vehicle, and to a miniature vehicle.
2. History of the Related Art
In miniature vehicles, which most often constitute toys for children, the wheels belonging to the same set of wheels are usually joined together, in rotation and in translation, by an axle, i.e. the wheels of the same axle rotate at the same time. This linkage in rotation and in translation is detrimental to the ability of these miniature vehicles to take corners and may lead to the child losing interest in the game. Certain miniature cars possess wheels which are independent in rotation on the same axle. In this case, these wheels are mounted by means of complex systems on the chassis or bodywork of the vehicle, which increases production costs thereof correspondingly and most often renders it fragile, which is incompatible with the use of the vehicle as a toy for a young child, in particular for a child younger than 36 months.
U.S. Pat. 5,380,231 proposes a miniature vehicle in which the attachment of the wheels is so unstable that the vehicle comes apart spontaneously in the event of a shock. The temporary attachment of the wheels on the chassis is effected without a stud element but by means of a complex device comprising spring-controlled levers.
In all cases, the tear resistance of the wheels obtained with prior-art devices is low and does not comply with the standards in force or planned. Moreover, the known devices are delicate to assemble, i.e. it is a long and expensive operation.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome these problems by a method for assembling one or more wheels on a miniature vehicle allowing an efficient attachment of the wheel or wheels with respect to the rest of the vehicle and a free rotation of one wheel with respect to the other wheel of the same set of wheels.